MINNESOTA TWINS NOTES:
THE TWINS: Began their 63rd season with a three-game sweep of the Royals at Kauffman Stadium over the weekend…tonight, they will make their first trip to Miami since 2019 and play the first of three games at loanDepot Park…after Wednesday afternoon’s series finale, the Twins will travel home to begin their 14th season at Target Field with three against the Houston Astros (April 6-9) and three against the Chicago White Sox (April 10-12). ATwins are one of three teams in baseball yet to lose, joining Tampa Bay (3-0) and Texas (3-0).
TWINS DO IT THE JOEY GALLO WAY: The Twins beat the Royals yesterday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium by a score of 7-4, securing their first sweep of the season…Joe Ryan (1-0) was the starter and winner, allowing one run on three hits, with two walks and six strikeouts…the offense recorded 13 hits, three apiece from Trevor Larnach and Joey Gallo…Gallo recorded three extra-base hits, including a double and two home runs…the homers were measured at an estimated distance of 431 feet and 415 feet…Gallo’s four RBI marked his eighth career game with four-plus RBI, third time against Kansas City.
Byron Buxton failed to homer in a road series for the first time since a four-game series at Detroit from May 30-June 2, 2022, snapping a streak of 10 consecutive road series with a home run, which according to Elias matches Miguel Sanó (September 2016-June 2017) for the longest run by a Twins player (since 1961), and was the longest streak by any player in the majors since Justin Turner homered in 10 straight road series from June-September 2019.
Buxton also ended the first inning with a 5-4-3 double play, marking his first groundball double play since Aug. 18, 2020 vs. Milwaukee, when he twice rolled into a 5-4-3 double play…it snapped a streak of 712 plate appearances over 172 games without a groundball double play, the longest streak by games in Twins/Senators history…Buxton hit 55 home runs between groundball double plays, which is a major league record.
FLORIDA MEN: Twins are returning to Florida after flying to Kansas City last Tuesday following their final spring game in Bradenton against the Pirates…the Twins and Marlins are playing each other for the 17th time in their history…the Twins are 9-7 against the Marlins, going 2-1 at the Metrodome, 2-1 at Dolphin Stadium, 2-3 at Marlins Park and 3-2 at Target Field…these two last met in a three-game series at loanDepot Park from July 30-August 1, 2019 as the Twins won two of three…Max Kepler homered twice in that series and Byron Buxton homered once.
FAMILIAR FACES IN NEW PLACES: On January 20, the Twins acquired Pablo López, infielder Jose Salas and outfielder Byron Chourio from the Marlins in exchange for Luis Arraez…Luey was originally signed by the Twins as an international free agent in November of 2013 and played parts of four seasons with Minnesota, hitting .314 (444-for-1413) in 389 games…López is scheduled to make the start against his former team on Wednesday afternoon.
The Twins completed their IL schedule last season with a three-game sweep of the Giants at Target Field from August 26-28.
Jose Miranda is hitting .352 (19-for-54) with three doubles, three home runs, 11 RBI and a .942 OPS in 15 games against NL opponents…his average was eighth best in the AL last season (minimum of 50 at-bats).
Max Kepler is hitting .368 (21-for-57) with 10 walks, a .463 on-base percentage and a 1.042 OPS in his last 17 IL games.
WINNESOTA: Minnesota is one of three teams in baseball yet to lose a game, joining Tampa Bay (3-0) and Texas (3-0)…the Twins are looking to start a season 4-0 for the for the ninth time in Twins/Senators franchise history (since 1901)…the previous eight times were 2017, 1987, 1979, 1970, 1968, 1951, 1913 and 1901.
CALL TO ARMS: Over the three-game series in Kansas City, Twins pitchers combined to post a 1.33 ERA (27.0 IP, 4 ER), with 13 walks, 25 strikeouts, while holding Royals batters to a slashline of .133/.250/.244.
Starters have gone 3-0, 0.55 ERA (16.1 IP, 1 ER), with nine walks and 15 strikeouts…Twins rank third in baseball in starter ERA, trailing Los Angeles-AL (0.53) and Tampa Bay (0.53).
The Twins bullpen has combined to allow just three runs on four hits in 10.2 innings pitched, posting an ERA of 2.53 and an opponent batting average of .118…relievers have allowed just four hits, second-fewest in baseball, trailing only Cincinnati (3).
BUCK SEASON: Byron Buxton has six hits in 13 at-bats to start the season, recording multiple hits in each game at Kauffman Stadium… three multi-hit games to start a season is the longest by a Twins player since Sam Fuld had three consecutive multi-hit games to begin his 2014 season…since 2021, Buck is hitting .372 (48-for-129) with 13 doubles, 14 home runs, 25 RBI, 29 runs scored, a .421 on-base percentage, an .814 slugging percentage and a 1.235 OPS in 34 March/April games…in that span, he leads baseball in OPS and slugging, is second in batting average and fourth in OBP…in 2021, he was named American League Player of the Month for April.
Last season, Buck hit .351 (13-for-37) with four doubles, six home runs, 11 RBI and a 1.361 OPS in his first 10 games.
STARTING PITCHER – TYLER MAHLE 51
Making his first start of 2023 tonight in his first full season with the Twins after starting four games for Minnesota in 2022…also his 119th career appearance and 118th start.
Facing Miami for the fourth time in his career and first time since 2021…career 0-2, 3.00 ERA (18.0 IP, 6 ER) with six walks and 17 strikeouts in three starts vs. Marlins.
Acquired from the Cincinnati Reds via trade on August 2, 2022 in exchange for minor league infielders Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Spencer Steer, and left-handed pitcher Steve Hajjar.
SPRING RECAP: In six Grapefruit League games (5 starts), Mahle went 1-2, 5.09 ERA (17.2 IP, 10 ER) with five walks and 15 strikeouts…his longest start came on March 23 vs. Toronto, tossing 4.2 innings and allowing three earned runs on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts in an 80-pitch outing…finished the spring with 4.0 innings March 28 at Pittsburgh, giving up one run on one hit with no walks and three strikeouts.
LAST MLB OUTING: Mahle returned from the 15-day Injured List on September 3, 2022 and sur- rendered four runs on five hits in 2.0 innings (0 BB, 0 K), taking the loss against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field…he was removed in the bottom of the third inning with right shoulder inflammation and ended the season on the Injured List, his third stint of the year…marked his short- est outing of 2022 and was the second-consecutive start in which he departed in the third inning due to right shoulder fatigue.
FISHING FOR A W: Mahle is seeking his first career win against the Marlins tonight…in three career starts, Mahle is 0-2, 3.00 ERA (18.0 IP, 6 ER) with six walks and 17 strikeouts…is facing Miami for the first time since August 29, 2021, his only start at Loan Depot Park in his career…pitched 7.0 innings for Cincinnati, allowing two earned runs and four hits with two walks and six strikeouts…took the loss, his first in his previous 13 road starts (7-0 during that stretch).
MASTER OF THE OPEN ROAD: In 2022, Mahle performed better on the road than in his home ballpark, going 4-3, 3.94 ERA (48.0 IP, 21 ER) with 13 walks, 51 strikeouts and a .201 (36-for-179) opponent batting average in his nine road starts…went 2-5, 4.71 ERA (72.2 IP, 38 ER) with 30 walks, 75 strikeouts and a .249 (68-for-273) opponent batting average in 14 home starts last year…over his six-year major league career, Mahle is 19-21, 3.76 ERA (316.1 IP, 132 ER) in 61 road appearances (all starts) and 13-18, 5.00 ERA (293.2 IP, 163 ER) in 57 games at home (56 starts).
His .254 opponent on-base percentage on the road was eighth best in the majors in 2022 (min. 45.0 IP), while his .583 opponent OPS was 12th best under those same parameters.
LEFT IS RIGHT: Mahle held opposing left-handed batters to a .192 (43-for-224) batting average last season, eighth best in the majors (min. 200 AB)…held lefties to just 1-for-16 (.063) in four starts with the Twins…by contrast, righties hit .268 (61-for-228) against him in 2022.
Owns a .193 (124-for-642) opponent batting average against left-handed hitters since the start of 2020, second best in the majors in that span (min. 500 AB), behind only Milwaukee’s Brandon Woodruff (.187).
MAHLE’S MIX: Last season, Mahle utilized a four-pitch arsenal, primarily relying on a 4-seam fastball and split finger…used split finger 24 percent of the time, his highest career usage of the pitch… nearly tripled the use of his cutter in 2022 after adding the pitch in 2021…here’s a look at Mahle’s repertoire from his 23 starts last season, per Baseball Savant:
PITCH (AVG. MPH) PCT. (#, vs. RHB/LHB) RESULTS
4-Seam Fastball (93.2)….. 51.6% (1084 pitches, 536/548)………… .205 (49-for-239), 9 2B, 10 HR, 87 K
Split Finger (85.4)………….. 24.0% (505 pitches, 156/349)…… .236 (30-for-127), 9 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 21 K
Cutter (85.5) ………………….. 12.9% (272 pitches, 86/186)…………. .275 (11-for-40), 1 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 5 K
Slider (83.9)…………………… 11.4% (240 pitches, 227/13)……………… .304 (14-for-46), 2 2B, 1 HR, 13 K
Mahle threw 505 splitters last season, the sixth-most in baseball…owned the third-best hard-hit percentage (22.7%) in MLB off splitters (min. 100 pitches), trailing only Baltimore’s Félix Bautista (21.2%) and Twins teammate Cole Sands (20.0%).
2022 NOTES:
Combined to go 6-8, 4.40 ERA (120.2 IP, 59 ER) with 43 walks and 126 strikeouts in 23 starts between Reds and Twins.
Began sixth major league season with Cincinnati and was club’s Opening Day starter for first time in career…started April 7 at Atlanta, allowing one unearned run on three hits in 5.0 innings pitched, with two walks and seven strikeouts, earning the win.
Went 3-2, 2.83 ERA (57.1 IP, 18 ER) with a .212 opponent batting average in nine starts from May 29-July 30, leading up to trade with Twins.
Acquired by Minnesota via trade with Cincinnati August 2, in exchange for infielders Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Spencer Steer, and left-handed pitcher Steve Hajjar.
Earned first win as Twin in second start with Minnesota August 12 at Los Angeles-AL, pitching 6.0 shutout innings with three hits allowed, two walks and six strikeouts.
Placed on 15-day Injured List August 20 with right shoulder inflammation; reinstated on September 3.
Made one more start for Twins September 3 at Chicago-AL, pitching 2.0 innings, throwing 37 pitches…placed back on 15-day IL the next day with right shoulder inflammation, ending his season.
TURF MONSTER: Mahle is making his fourth career start at a ballpark with an artificial surface…has pitched once before at loanDepot Park in 2021 and has made two starts at Arizona’s Chase Field, once in 2021 and once last season…on turf, Mahle is 0-1, 0.90 ERA (20.0 IP, 2 ER) with six walks and 24 strikeouts…pitched a complete-game shutout in his most recent start on turf, allowing just three hits with no walks and 12 strikeouts, tying a career high, on June 14, 2022 at Arizona.
CAREER NOTES
• Made 23 starts in 2022, 19 for Cincinnati to begin the year and four for the Twins in August and September, combining to go 6-8, 4.40 ERA (120.2 IP, 59 ER) with 43 walks and 126 strikeouts.
• Ended 2022 on Injured List with right shoulder inflammation, his third stint of the year on the IL, after departing from final start September 3, 2022 in the third inning.
• Acquired by Minnesota via trade from Cincinnati on August 2, 2022 in exchange for minor league infielders Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Spencer Steer, and left-handed pitcher Steve Hajjar.
• Named the Reds’ 2022 Opening Day starter, making his first Opening Day start and his fifth-consecutive Opening Day roster.
• In 2021, established single-season career highs in wins (13), starts (33), quality starts (12), innings pitched (180.0), strikeouts (201) and batters faced (759)…had 13 wins after entering the season with 13 victories in his career…ranked among the National League pitching leaders in starts (T-1st), wins (T-10th), ERA (16th), strikeouts (9th) and strikeouts-per-9.0 innings (7th, 10.50).
• His strikeouts-per-9 innings ratio of 10.50 in 2021 was third best in Reds franchise history behind Luis Castillo (10.67 in 2019) and Sonny Gray (10.52 in 2019).
• Opponents hit just .198 (34-for-172) against Mahle in 2020…went 2-2, 3.59 ERA (47.2 IP, 19 ER) with six home runs, 21 walks and 60 strikeouts over the course of the season.
• Made the first relief appearance of his major league career, following 54 consecutive starts, on August 12, 2020 vs. Kansas City (3.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R/ER, 1 HR, 3 BB, 6 K)… was his first professional relief appearance since 2015, when he made 26 starts and one relief outing.
• Went 2-10, 4.93 ERA (102.1 IP, 56 ER) in 19 starts in 2019 before he went on the 10-day Injured List on July 22 with a left hamstring strain…was reinstated from the IL and optioned to Triple-A Louisville on August 22 before being added to the Reds’ roster on September 1…went 1-2, 5.93 ERA (27.1 IP, 18 ER) in six starting efforts after his September callup and the Reds won three of his last four starts.
• Entered the 2018 season rated as the fourth-best prospect in the Reds organization by Baseball America and went 7-9, 4.95 (109.0 IP, 60 ER) in 22 starts before he was optioned to Louisville on August 3.
• Made his major league debut in a start on August 27, 2017 vs. Pittsburgh (L, 5.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R/ER, 4 BB, 5 K).
MIAMI MARLINS NOTES:
MARLINS MINUTE
The Marlins today play the first of three games against the Minnesota Twins, their first of 15 Interleague series in 2023. Are coming off their opening series against the New York Mets in which they went 1-3. The club’s first road trip will include a three-game series against the Mets that starts on April 6, with a built-in off day on April 7, before heading to play the reigning National League champion Phillies from April 10-12.
YESTERDAY’S RECAP
Miami dropped the series finale against the Mets, 1-5. The offense recorded just 4 hits, including 2 from INF Luis Arraez. LHP Trevor Rogers surrendered 4 runs (3 earned) over 4.1 innings with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts and was relieved by RHP Huascar Brazoban who matched his career-high 2.2 innings pitched, allowing 1 run with 2 strikeouts.
TWINS IN TOWN
The Marlins will host the Minnesota Twins at loanDepot park for the first time since 2019 when they went 1-2 in the three-game set. Are 7-11 in 16 match-ups against the Twins dating back to 2002. Is just the third time the club hosts the Twins since moving to Miami.
GOOD FIRST IMPRESSIONS
INF Luis Arraez is 9×16 (.563) in his first four games, becoming the fourth player in club history to record 9-or-more hits through three games played as a Marlin, and the first since Emilio Bonifacio had 11 hits through four games in 2009 (Cameron Maybin had 10 in 2008 and Jeff Conine had 10 in 1993).
• Arraez became just the second player in Marlins history to reach base safely as the starting leadoff hitter in each of the first four games to start a season, joining Hanley Ramirez in 2006. (credit: Elias Sports Bureau).
• His 9 hits currently lead MLB; ranks second in NL in batting avg., and fifth in MLB in batting avg. going into Monday’s game.
CELEBRATING OUR CHAMPIONS
Starting tonight, the Marlins will celebrate three players on the active roster who earned high honors last season: Sandy Alcantara, 2022 NL Cy Young (Monday, April 3), Luis Arraez, 2022 AL Batting Champion and Silver Slugger (Tuesday, April 4), and Jon Berti, 2022 NL Stolen Base champion. Following the presentation of their awards, the trophies will be on display on the Promenade Level.
CY YOUNG SANDY
The 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner RHP Sandy Alcantara toed the rubber on Thursday for Miami in his fourth consecutive Opening Day start. He became the first pitcher in Marlins history to make four consecutive Opening Day starts. Surpassed the previous mark of three, which he shared with Josh Beckett (2003-05) and Josh Johnson (2010-12). Alcantara was also one of three pitchers in the Majors to make a fourth consecutive Opening Day start with the same team, joining Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola (sixth) and Cleveland’s Shane Bieber (fourth).
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
The Marlins have made the following roster moves prior to today’s game – Selected RHP Jeff Lindgren from Triple-A Jacksonville, optioned LHP Braxton Garrett to Triple-A Jacksonville, and placed RHP Nic Enright on the 60-day IL.
JOHNNY BEISBOL
RHP Johnny Cueto will make his Marlins debut tonight after signing with the club in late January. Cueto ranks 10th among active pitchers in career strikeouts (1812), 8th in innings pitched (2192.2), and 7th in wins (143).
FUERTE FORTES
C Nick Fortes made back-to-back starts on Friday and Saturday, going 3×7 with a home run and two singles. His 2-run shot on Saturday went 422 ft., the longest of his first 14 career home runs (88 gms.). 6 of his 14 home runs(42.8%) have been go-ahead, including 2 against the New York Mets (walk-off home run on June 26, 2022 off Adam Ottavino).
CAN’T MAKE IT THAT EASY
Miami’s pitching currently ranks 2nd in MLB with 19 walks, behind only Arizona who has walked 23 batters. Through 30 years of the club’s history, the team has only given more free passes through the first four games to begin a season five times – 2002 and 2016 (21 BB); 1995, 1997, and 2020 (20 BB). The Marlins have walked 19 batters five additional years as well: 1998, 1999, 2003, 2011, and 2018.
• On the other side of the rubber, the Marlins offense struck out 41 times in 127 at-bats in the four-game series against the Mets this past weekend, marking the most strikeouts in club history through the first four games of a season. Miami is one of three teams to have 41 strikeouts through the first four games in 2023, alongside the Colorado Rockies and reigning World Series champion Houston Astros.
TURNING THE TRENDING TIDE
The Marlins played their first one-run game of the season Friday night, emerging with the win. Miami played 64 games decided by 1 run in 2022, the most such games in the Majors last season. Miami’s 40 one-run losses were the most such losses in a season in club history, the most since the 1975 Houston Astros (41), and just three shy of the single-season record for one-run losses during the Live Ball Era (since 1920) held by the 1968 White Sox (44).
• The Marlins started last season playing one-run games in each of their first three games and five of their first six.
NEW SKIP IN TOWN
Skip Schumaker secured his first managerial win on Friday night, becoming the 17th manager in Marlins history to win at least 1 game at the helm. Last season, Schumaker served as St. Louis’s Bench Coach under rookie Manager Oli Marmol. Schumaker concluded his 11-year Major League career in 2015, appearing in a total of 1,149 games with the Cardinals (2005-12), Los Angeles Dodgers (2013), and Cincinnati Reds (2014-15). He is a two-time World Series champion (2006, 2011) as a member of the Cardinals.
TODAY’S STARTER – #47 JOHNNY CUETO
• Johnny Cueto pitched to a 3.35 ERA (158.1 IP/59 ER) in 25 appearances (24 starts) with the Chicago White Sox after being signed as a Minor League free agent prior to the 2022 season.
• Led the White Sox in quality starts (18), 6.0-plus IP starts (19) and 7.0-plus IP starts (8).
• Owned a sub-3.00 ERA in May (2.41;18.2 IP/ 5 ER) and July (2.12;34.0 IP/8 ER), and a 2.84 road ERA (76.0 IP/24 ER).
• Limited opponents to a .220 (11×50) average with RISP/two outs and.143 (1×7) mark with the bases loaded.
• Went 3-0 with a 2.48 ERA (11 ER/40.0 IP) and 20 strikeouts over asix-start span from 6/28- 7/30… allowed three earned runs or less in all six outings, including two or less four times.
• The New Mr. Zero: Became the first pitcher in franchise history with 6.0-plus scoreless IP in each of his first two appearances with the White Sox (Elias)… his 12.0 scoreless IP streak was the third-longest by a Sox starter to begin his career with the club since 1974 (STATS).
• Allowed three earned runs or less in 15 consecutive appearances (14 starts) from 6/2-8/20… went 6-4 with a 2.61 ERA (29 ER/100.0 IP) and 13 quality starts during the 15-game span.
• 2022: American League Player of the Week (Aug. 21)
• 2017: Since the Giants franchise moved to San Francisco in 1958, Cueto is one of two Giants pitchers to win his first three starts of a season in consecutive years as he also won his first three starts in 2016 (also: Rick Reuschel in 1988 and 1989).
